Hospitality sector to provide short courses for employees to minimise work disruptions

Written by: Cheryl Tee

SINGAPORE – Short training programmes lasting two to three hours are in the works for workers in the hospitality sector so that they can upgrade their skills without missing much of work.

Such bite-sized training will help the manpower-strapped industry step up staff training while managing disruptions to work.

The training is part of a tie-up between the National Trades Union Congress’ Hospitality and Consumer Business Cluster (NTUC HCBC) and 21 industry partners.

Launched on Wednesday (Jan 31), the Hospitality ABC Network addresses skills gaps of employees in areas such as hotel and accommodation services, clubs and resorts.

It aims to provide training that covers topics including leadership, management, digital technology and operations. Participants can choose to attend online, face-to-face or hands-on classes. These short training programmes, however, will not give any certification to the participants.

One way skill gaps in the industry will be identified is through focus group discussions with hospitality associations and organisations. Upcoming sessions, which target the engineering and facilities professionals in the sector, are organised by NTUC HCBC, Singapore National Employers Federation and the Institute of Technical Education.

The network will develop a fixed programme plan after the focus group discussions.

At the launch of the network, Secretary-General of NTUC Chan Chun Sing stressed the importance for the hospitality sector to stay ahead of the digital disruption wave.

“(We aim to place) tomorrow’s unemployed into tomorrow’s jobs. We want to equip our workers…way ahead – even before they lose their jobs – so they are prepared for tomorrow’s jobs,” he said.

To appeal to hospitality workers, Mr Chan said that adult education should cater to their fast-paced lifestyles.

“Adult education cannot just be about going to schools for three months, six months, for a long course,” he said.

As a taster to the training sessions, hospitality leaders had a masterclass after the launch on Wednesday, which focused on using artificial intelligence to generate profit in the industry.